Your Heaven
by KahneCrescent
Summary: Kaname is a corporate douchebag, sacrificing his family to become CEO of the company he works for. Zero is a punk, fresh from jail who just can't seem to shake the reputation he earned being framed for his brother's murder. After meeting in a bar to drown their misery, can they provide each other with the stability and support they need to keep moving on? AU, slash, lemons later.
1. Chapter 1 - Just My Way

**A/N**: Hey, hey! Kahne-chan in the house, coming to you with a brand new fic, _Your Heaven_. I feel like this is going to be a little different from my previous fics; anyway, I'm hoping it will be. It's supposed to just be a simple romantic drama about two lost souls giving each other a leg up in life. The difference is that now we have a human Kaname on his way to the top of the world and a human Zero who can't seem to get his foot on the bottom rung of the ladder, and they are _not_ trying to kill each other. So you can probably tell that personalities are going to be a little, teeny, tiny, infinitesimal speck of OOCness, I guess that's something I should warn about for people who aren't okay with that. Plus, expect some cameos of other canon characters and perhaps even some OCs that appeared in my Takuma/Senri series that I never finished.

Also, as I'm writing this, I just received the first reviews for the last two installments of _And Then We Kiss_, so thank you Luan Rina, ben4kevin, and kluna. Now some replies to people who really deserve them and haven't gotten them, along with my sincerest apologies for staying in my hidey hole for so long.

_LuLu-rin:_ I love you, and I hope you'll enjoy YH too~ Thank you for your continued support of Kaname-sama and Zerocchi, and keep being my number one fan, because without you I would have very little to look forward to.

_Ben-kun:_ I hope you're reading this fic, too! Thank you for your frequent reviews!

_K-chan:_ I'll be honest and say I'm not entirely certain if you've reviewed before, but thanks for hanging in there and reading those last chapters. Please enjoy this one as well!

Thanks to everyone who loves and supports my writing, and please enjoy this one too!

**xXXx**

**Your Heaven  
>Chapter One – Just My Way<strong>

The buzzer on his desk pierced the silence of the spacious office, causing the dark-haired man sitting in the posh leather chair to nearly jump out of his skin. He took a breath to calm his erratic heartbeat then highlighted and erased the jumbled text that had appeared as he'd slammed his hands down on the keyboard with his moment of shock, shaking his head out of shame. At least he was alone; no one would have to know about this.

"What is it, Karen?" he sighed, wiping one eye with the back of his hand and stifling a yawn. How many hours straight had he been up now?

"Sir, I'm sorry to bother you, but your wife is on line seven." He could imagine the perky blonde in that pink button-down that was just a size too small for how well-endowed she was, and the white pencil skirt that hugged her legs in hips in a way that made her rounded backside stand out. He licked his lips. It was the curse of the secretary—there wasn't a bad-looking one in the bunch.

_Next time, _he thought dully, _I'm going to make sure they hire a man._ And with that he narrowed his eyes in order to focus his rampant thought process.

"Of course. Thank you Karen."

"It's my job, Mister Kuran."

He released the button and picked up his phone, pressing it in between his head and his shoulder as he fumbled in the dim lighting that his computer screen gave off in the darkened room. Which one was the button for line seven again? He'd meant to upgrade this thing ages ago, to something that would light up when there was a call waiting, but there just never seemed to be enough hours in the day, especially in these past six years since he had made his way to being the State Branch Manager for Ichijou & Sons Shipping Company International.

Kaname Kuran was only twenty-four when he was hired on at Ichijou as a sales associate. With a clean record of Get It Done, he rose quickly to the top of the sales department in his city, and then from there it was a straight shot to becoming State Branch Manager—when it came time for the new one to be chosen, the vote was completely unanimous. Everyone agreed that Kaname Kuran was a young man with ambition and a vision, and he was going somewhere fast. And as it turned out, Ichijou's sons were all long gone and buried next to their parents, except for the youngest who clung to life like a burr, and now it seemed that the eighty-seven-year-old man was finally going to retire and pass his company on to someone who would continue pushing the company in the right direction, as he felt he had since he'd become the company head a few decades ago.

It was no secret that Kaname was one of the top three choices—next to a guy who wanted to merge Ichijou with his father's company, and Ichijou's own grandson Takuma who, the last Kaname had heard, had no interest in doing the job—and having that position would mean total security for himself and his family for the rest of their natural lives. Of course Kaname wanted to be able to give his wife and kids the things that they wanted and needed, and so he was aiming for that spot up there at the top of the world where the air was clear and he didn't have to worry about what the guy above him was scheming. The only thing was that with great power came great responsibility, and also great sacrifice—he had barely seen the inside of his house, or the outside of his office for that matter, in almost a week now and he just knew that Yuuki was getting impatient.

"Kaname, is that you? What in God's name are you doing? The kids are wondering where you are; they think you left us." Her voice sounded metallic, like she was talking into a tin can. Behind her, he could hear his ten-year-old son and eight-year-old daughters fighting over the Xbox controller while the theme music to some game or other jingled happily, unaware of the plight it was causing.

He sighed, stifled that yawn one more time, and wet his lips, rubbing his eyes. "I'm so sorry, honey. It's just… I've got this big thing coming up and I really can't afford to miss the opportunity. This is the difference between the twins having their own rooms while Katsura lives in the basement, and everyone having their own suite with a Jacuzzi bathtub."

"What?" Yuuki was dumbfounded, obviously upset, and Kaname imagined her with her hand on her hip, full lips turned in that adorable frown that she'd always done since he'd met her in high school. "Kaname, we don't need those things. We're doing just fine the way things are, and there's nothing wrong with where we live. Besides, Katsura likes the basement. He gets to have his solitude down there, plus we have someone to restart the furnace when it acts up*. Everything is fine the way it is now; why do you need more?"

He wasn't quite sure, but… something about parking a Hyundai Accent with crayon melted onto the seats and smears of questionable substances all over the back windows next to Karen's impeccable Mercedes-Benz was starting to irritate him. How much did she make anyway? It wouldn't matter; she was single with no kids, living in a high rise condo that her parents bought her. She could afford luxuries, whereas Kaname had three kids and a wife to feed, clothe, and shelter.

"I just do, Yuuki. I feel like this isn't enough the way it is."

There was a pause and he could almost hear her impatience. "Well… you better come home soon, or you'll be sorry!" In that irrational way of hers, Yuuki slammed down the phone while Kaname was thinking of all the other things that his position as CEO could buy them. Like ponies and riding lessons for Yuuko and Kanako, or that guitar that Katsura wanted that used to belong to John Lennon, and maids, a butler, their own private spa…. That would keep Yuuki happy.

It just seemed so far off with the way things were now. And he knew that Yuuki had every right to be angry with him when, yes, he hadn't been home in a week. He was sorry for worrying her and the kids, but he also had a feeling that this was what he needed to do. He was going to get there, no matter what he had to sacrifice.

_I'm sorry Yuuki. One day you'll forgive me, but for now, I have something to prove._

**xXXx**

The world was so much darker passing through the city via the skinny alleys in between the buildings that lined the downtown. He looked up, blinking languidly as he wondered just how long it had been since he'd seen blue sky and breathed fresh, clean air. He couldn't say he disliked city life—the way the world moved in such a fast pace around him gave him a reason to want to keep up with it and do something with his life like everyone else. But he also still wanted to keep mostly to himself. He had learned the hard way that having friends usually meant getting mixed up with the wrong crowd sooner or later.

Dressed in a crumpled black button-down with a second hand tie, bright blue and fraying at the edges from all the abuse it had suffered, and brown pinstriped slacks with his mud-stained high-tops peeking out from underneath, Zero knew that he looked as good as he was ever going to get. With a sigh, he disembarked the alley, turned left onto Third Street and stood in front of the local Grab 'N' Go convenience store, smoothing his hair, using the front window—which was blocked off from the inside with cardboard and newspaper, and on the outside with cast iron bars—as a mirror. One strand of silver hair poked out incessantly and he sighed, finally giving up.

Yeah. It didn't get much better than this.

Preparing for disappointment, he walked up to the door and flung it open to step inside the air conditioned room where a young lady lounged on a barstool behind the counter, which was surrounded by protective plexi-glass. He stepped up, clearing his throat, which prompted her to look in his direction almost hostilely, as if he could have possibly made her day any worse. He brushed it off. It wasn't like he hadn't been getting that look a lot the past four years.

"I have a twelve-thirty interview with—"

"Yeah, I know. Kiryuu. Boss said to send you back when you got here."

Zero was silent for a minute, his eyes scanning over the Help Wanted sign written in green Sharpie that was stuck to the glass with probably literally a whole roll of masking tape and sighed. His eyes fell on the back door with a paper sign similar to the Help Wanted one in the window, but this one read Employees Only. Without asking for directions, he simply walked through and made his way down a short hall to the boss' office, stepping with a curt knock on the door frame. "I'm Kiryuu. I'm here for my interview."

The owner of the store looked up. He was a funny little man with a round face and a bald spot on the top of his head, his grey hair whisping out from around it like the feathers of a baby bird. His wire-framed glasses had huge lenses that sat on his red cheeks and were at least an inch thick each. To top it off, he was getting a little tubby from sitting in one place for so long without hardly moving an inch. What a great life he must've had, relaxing and making money while everyone suffered. The only people Zero hated more than that little fat man right now, were those corporate douchebags with the 360 degree panoramic views of the city and the helipads on top of their houses.

People who had it so easy in life; all they had to do was point and they could have whatever they wanted. He didn't believe that most of them had worked to get where they were—most of them were born to money and therefore had a fighting chance in life, unlike people like him who were basically thrown to the wolves by the rich people who considered themselves above the working class—and for that reason alone, he hated them.

"Ahh, Kiryuu-kun! Sit down." The man gestured to a ratty old armchair that looked like it had been pulled out of a dumpster, and Zero bit his lip before he forced himself to sit. Laundromats weren't cheap these days and it was doing to take a miracle to get the smell of vomit and sweat off his clothing after this. "I'd like to start off by asking you something, if you don't mind."

He fought off the frown. Who was conducting this interview again? "Yeah, go ahead."

"Did you know you're over an hour late?"

"What!" Zero look at his watch, shocked when he compared it to the digital clock hung up on the wall. How long ago had his watch died and he hadn't even noticed? The last time he'd looked at it, it had said that it was only eleven and he had plenty of time before he needed to be at his interview, but when had he last checked it before that? Dipping his head, he sighed. "I'm very sorry. There's no excuse for this, sir."

The man waved it off easily. "It would look bad on you if you were consistently late for work," he stated, turning in his swivel chair to pick up a sheet of paper from his desk. It was lined paper with Zero's perfect handwriting scrawled across it evenly. His resume. "I was wondering… you wrote it out by hand?"

His cheeks heated. "I don't own a computer."

"What about the library?"

"…they wouldn't let me in."

"An employment service?"

"No dice."

"Friends? Family?"

"Don't got any."

An awkward silence hung over the room for what seemed like ages and Zero felt his mouth drying out. There was no way he was going to get this. He'd already fudged it by handing in a handwritten resume, right? What was the use in trying? He got to his feet and bowed at a forty-five degree angle. "I'm sorry for wasting your time. Good luck finding an employee." He turned to leave, but the boss' voice stopped him.

"Eh… I admire that you were so determined, handing in a handwritten letter. You seem like a good kid, despite your lack of education and workplace experience. I would hire you on the spot if it weren't for the one thing that's bothering me. Your volunteering as a groom for the police department's mounted unit…. I see that ends abruptly four years ago, followed up by a space of time where you were off the grid." Zero went quiet, hanging his head. This was where it went wrong in the other two interviews. It wasn't like he wasn't a familiar face in this city. He and his brother had been raised in the orphanage on Third after the murder of their parents, and they'd frequented the Grab 'N' Go whenever they could scrounge the money for a treat.

"I was out of town…."

"May enquire about your criminal record?"

Another long silence. Yeah… this was it. Rumours had spread after he'd been put away for getting involved in a fight between his brother and the Yakuza, when his brother was killed. He thought, maybe he shouldn't have gotten into it. Maybe he should have stayed as far away as he could instead of trying to convince Ichiru to run away from it all. But he'd gotten right into the middle, and when his brother had been snuffed, the Yakuza planted the evidence that would shift the blame. There were enough witnesses to attest to the fact that Zero and Ichiru had been at each other's throats in the days leading up to the murder, but they didn't understand that Zero was trying to make Ichiru stop before he got too deep…. And now that he'd been accused of murdering his own brother… well, people didn't quite trust him the way they used to.

Mostly, they wondered how he'd basically gotten off with a slap on the wrist. Four years was laughable. Originally he'd been sentenced to twenty years, but good behaviour was a magical thing; he'd passed all his psych evaluations, even gotten his GED, learned to cook and shoot a hoop backwards with his eyes closed. He'd learned that not every guy in the shower is going to rape you if you pick up the soap, and actually, sex wasn't that bad—especially in the shower—and that convicts had interesting stories to share, senses of humour, real reasons and logical answers for doing what they did, if they did anything at all. Because he also learned that he wasn't the only one who had been shoved in the cooler on false accusation.

He was nineteen when he was arrested and convicted, and it had been four years since then. Being so young, of course people were going to think badly about him. After all, once a killer, always a killer. He understood why people were afraid of him, and it bothered him that there was nothing he could possibly do to change their minds.

"Look, I could tell you the truth about how I got in the middle of something I shouldn't have, and that I was trying to save my brother, but are you really going to believe me?"

The man grunted. He knew the rumours that had been going around, but he also knew the little boy that would hold his little brother's hand and tell him to pick whatever candy he wanted without sparing a single cent for himself. "I can hire you part time, but people might complain if you're in here too frequently. A couple hours a day, three days a week. It isn't much but I'm assuming it's more than what you have now."

Saying it wasn't much was the understatement of the year. That wouldn't even pay for Zero to live in a motel, let alone buy daily meals and wash his clothes. But, survival of the fittest was all part of life, wasn't it? And Zero was in no mood to be selected out quite yet. He had a score to settle with a certain katana-wielding mob wife, and he wasn't planning on giving up until he'd seen her buried.

**xXXx**

**Son of A/N:** *Parenting 101: Do NOT let your ten-year-old son play with the furnace. Just saying.


	2. Chapter 2 - Transient Future

**A/N:** Woot! Chapter Two! I'll be naming all the chapters after songs in my playlist. The first one was Just My Way by YUI; this one is Transient Future by Megurine Luka. Just in case anyone was interested, or wanted to know what I'm doing when this is running through my head. I would write a comprehensive list of all my songs that inspire me, but we would be here forever. The easiest way to put it is that… I have every song YUI and Utada Hikaru have ever recorded, an insane number of VOCALOID songs, all the OST music and character songs from UtaPri and Hetalia, the full OSTs from VK and all the Kingdom Hearts games… uhm…. About three quarters of Miyano Mamoru's songs (I am seriously addicted to his beautiful voice), and Gackt… 96neko, VALSHE, Pokota, Vin…. A ton of Adele; everything Marianas Trench, Cinema Bizarre, and Tokio Hotel have released. Evanescence's album Fallen, a bunch of random Florence + The Machine, Gorillaz, Muse, Three Days Grace, EXO, GOT7, MIB, SHINee, LAMA, School Food Punishment, Do As Infinity…. Plus the soundtracks from The Little Mermaid, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and The Swan Princess. And then a bunch of miscellaneous Beethoven, Bach, Handel, Mozart, et cetera. Some nameless piano solos that I really liked, and some that I kind of didn't but downloaded anyway…. Uhm. I said I wasn't going to do this, but I did anyway! SUMANAKATTA! *bows deeply*

**xXXx**

**Your Heaven**

**Chapter Two – Transient Future**

It was quiet; since the night had settled in the number of customers had decreased greatly and Yoshino left her place behind the plexi-glass window to don her fur-lined coat and scarf, slipping into her leather gloves and tucking her long dark hair under her hat. As she left out the front doors, she gave Zero a small wave and he returned it languidly. Without another word, Yoshino stepped out to where her boyfriend waited for her with an umbrella to keep the snow off. He kissed her, and they walked off hand in hand with broad grins.

Zero huffed. Like he really wanted to see that. But he shrugged it off; he'd seen it three days a week for the last fifteen weeks, and the deeper into winter it got, the more they sickened him. Maybe it was because of how Yoshino bragged when her boyfriend wasn't around—she had him wrapped around her finger, and he did whatever she wanted; basically she treated him like her slave and _that_ was what made Zero sick. That she strung that poor guy along and leeched off him because she was young and lovely and he was hopelessly in love. That was something he would never understand—giving up everything for someone who was just going to hurt you in the end.

When had he become so jaded? When Ichiru was murdered? Or maybe before that. He didn't remember anymore.

There was a whoosh and a jingle. Zero looked up to see a dark-haired man in a tan trench coat and a fancy suit step inside, brushing the snow off his sleeves. He'd seen this guy come in a few times. He was tall and comely with chocolate brown hair and rust-coloured eyes, pale skin that was flawless all except for the bags and the listless look that told Zero he was clearly not getting enough rest. Not that he cared at all. It just struck him as odd that someone wearing a suit that cost more than three months' rent at the place he was sharing a ten minute train ride from the Grab 'N' Go, was there with that exhausted look buying bentos and energy drinks.

_Maybe he's cheating on his wife_. He dismissed it that easily. Corporate douchebags didn't actually do enough work to merit that kind of fatigue.

"That'll be fifteen hundred yen," Zero frowned as he bagged the stack of bentos separately from the energy drinks and took the man's money. He took his bags and left without a word, and it didn't bother Zero at all to watch him leave without even thanking him. Whatever. The working class existed simply to be the slaves of the higher-ups, right? He was even worse than working class. He was an ex-convict with a partially part-time job and a hate on for just about everything and everyone. He was a class all his own, not quite a street rat and not quite a worker. He was just dangling dangerously in between on a dilapidated precipice that threatened to give way and tear what semblance of the life he had into little pieces.

At eleven, Yamakawa showed up to take the graveyard shift and Zero walked home now that he'd missed the last train. He'd picked up his paycheque on the way out and tore open the envelope so he could deposit it on the way, pleasantly surprised when he saw his holiday bonus had been tacked on as well. Maybe just this one time he could be proud of himself and relax. A new outfit, one of his favourite snacks, and then a round of drinks at that bar that he'd been eyeing up for the last month; he decided that was how he would spend his next day off, so maybe he could release some of the tension that had been building up lately.

After all, he still had something he wanted to achieve before anyone got too attached to him. He needed to be able to do this and then just slip away like a leaf in a windstorm without anyone missing him. It didn't really matter if he broke hearts or whatever… it was just, when people loved you, that made it hard for them to allow you to do whatever you liked with your life. Once Zero had accomplished the one thing he had left in this world to strive for, he planned to take the loser's way out without any shame or regret whatsoever. His parents were gone, his brother was gone, rumours refused to die down and here he was working a dead-end job in a convenience store.

There wasn't anything left for him that he wanted to hold onto desperately, something that would make him want to live any longer than absolutely necessary. This world was junk. He couldn't wait to be excused.

When he finally got back to the apartment he was sharing with a guy who was almost never around as he attended university and still somehow had time to hit the clubs with his harem of female friends, it was almost one in the morning and he went to the fridge for a glass of milk and a container of leftover fried rice that he'd made a few nights ago. Tentatively, he opened the container, sniffed it, fluffed it with a pair of cheap wooden chopsticks, then microwaved it for a minute and a half so it was heated but not hot enough to burn his mouth.

There was nothing on TV besides bad cable porn and Letterman, so he opted out for the night, eating in silence under the orange lamplight with a three day old newspaper, resting on the arm of a ratty sofa. Where had Kaito picked this thing up? A Salvation Army or something; either way, there was a reason why someone had dumped it, and that made Zero appreciate the Febreeze Set 'N' Refresh sets that he'd invested in. The sweet but tart Hawaiian Breeze scent was the only thing that covered the smell of beer on their living room furniture.

Finally, an hour after he'd arrived home, Zero dragged his half-asleep corpse onto a lumpy mattress with one broken spring, after changing into a pair of second-hand pajama pants. Wrapped in a quilt that had a hole near the bottom where he kept getting his foot caught, Zero considered himself lucky. Three months ago he'd been released from jail with nothing. Now he had a job with a little money, a roof to sleep under, food to eat, and the freedom to stew in his hatred of that woman, Shizuka Hio.

**xXXx**

He was finally getting to go home for the first time in five days. Three months ago his wife had given him the ultimatum, and Kaname had done his best to make it home once in a while just to keep her happy. Three evenings a week—that was all Yuuki wanted, and he'd promised to give it to her. This was the first time in three months that he'd broken that and he'd managed to stop by the jeweller's to pick up a little gift for her, so maybe it would ease the tension that he knew would hit like a brick wall as soon as he walked in the door.

On the way home he made an attempt to call her, but Yuuki didn't answer which was strange, but maybe she was making dinner, so he dismissed it easily. Five o'clock. A half hour later, he rolled up into a traffic jam, caused by a head-on collision between two eighteen-wheelers with a huge explosion and no survivors. He rubbed his forehead deftly, tried to call Yuuki again. Still no answer. They were probably eating without him. He turned the radio on to pass the time, but he was starting to feel agitated, which he chalked up to his growling stomach and cracked open one of the bentos he'd just bought at the Grab 'N' Go. He remembered the scowl on the cashier's face—only because the kid might've been handsome if he'd been a little more pleasant.

But that was the thing with kids these days, especially those in what was considered the Working Class. They always had some kind of grudge against something. Wearing what was obviously old hand-me-downs, Kaname figured that the scowl probably had something to do with his sticking his nose in a cheap convenience store while he was still dressed in the same expensive suit he'd worn the last four days in a row, or maybe more. He looked around just to make sure no one was watching, and then ducked his head to sniff his shirt. He didn't particularly smell bad…. But he really hadn't had time to go through his closet lately; whenever he slept at home he always found himself crucially late for work and rushed to get to the office before anyone noticed. Karen couldn't cover for him forever; people started to get suspicious after a while.

Still, even glowering, the cashier had potential in modelling or something; he probably just needed that leg up. Kaname knew how hard it could be to get that, having gone to school with friends who were constantly complaining that their parents couldn't quite make the bill payments, friends who had to turn down his party invitations because they had to work at the age of only fifteen, friends who asked to borrow a couple bucks for lunch because their rent left them broke…. He hadn't quite understood why they had so much trouble in life until his father lost his job and they immediately downsized to a two bedroom house on the corner of Pine and Queens instead of the Kuran Estate that he'd been raised on. Suddenly his mom was working full time as a DSW and had no more time for her hobby as an artist and a humanitarian, and his father was a security guard at the local mall. It was as if everything had fallen apart in a flash, and there he was, flipping burgers at a fast food joint to save for college.

He complained about bills, turned down party invitations, bummed money from his friends.

Finally he had wormed his way through college on a strict diet of Cheetos and Mr. Noodles, married his high school sweetheart, and then forced his way to the top of Ichijou & Sons' state branch. He didn't have a great house, but it had a mostly finished basement, three bedrooms of below average size, a kitchen that worked, one and a half bathrooms that always seemed to be occupied…. He sighed heavily. He loved his family and he wanted the best he could offer them; that meant he had to better than he was already to get that position as CEO. They all needed that promotion, whether Yuuki thought so or not.

Traffic started to move again, he tried to call home one more time. No answer. It was eight-thirty and he speculated that Yuuki was probably putting the twins to bed. They had school in the morning, after all. He thought about what he would do when he got back home, parked in the carport and went in through the side door. He'd kick his shoes off in the mud room, then go through the kitchen and down the hall, into Yuuko's bedroom to kiss her forehead, then into Kanako's to do the same. He'd go downstairs, cover Katsura up because he always kicked his blankets off in his sleep, then smooth his hair off his face and return to the first floor. Then he'd finally go into the master bedroom, disrobe, and slip into bed beside his wife, who would wake just enough to accept the bracelet in the little box, kiss him happily, and then they would cuddle up and fall asleep together.

Perfect.

As expected, when he arrived home, the lights were all off. He smiled to himself and went up the stairs to the door, kicked his shoes off in the mudroom, then went into the kitchen and into Yuuko's room. Her bed was neatly made, but her stuffed animals were gone along with the stack of sketchbooks that used to live on her desk. Confused, he wandered into Kanako's room where his heart jumped. The clothes that usually lay strewn about on the floor were gone; there were discoloured areas where all her soccer medals had hung on the wall, and the picture she'd had of her and her daddy on their first and only fishing trip had disappeared. Now frantic, he ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time until he hit the bottom, throwing open the door to Katsura's cave where the furnace purred quietly. No Katsura. None of his anime or manga or the little machines he tinkered with.

He didn't have to check his own bedroom. Defeated, he went up to the kitchen to look for the bottle of vodka that they kept in the freezer and found the note on the counter instead.

_Gone to Mom and Dad's. You had your chance and you blew it._

_I'm sending the divorce papers to your office since you'd rather be married to your work. Thank you for letting us all down. Please don't call me._

_Yuuki_

There was a punch in his gut that made him lose his breath, and he choked for a moment. This was the icing on the cake—he'd known that Yuuki was serious, he never doubted it… he just… didn't think she would actually file for divorce….

She'd taken the vodka, too….

This was going to be a hard night.


	3. Chapter 3 - Call Me When You're Sober

**A/N**: Chapter Three, what, what! This is so rare for me to have done this much work in a week. I'm not sure when I'll be posting this up, but as a little bit of trivia for all my bropancakes out there, I actually finished the first three chapters seven days.

Soooo, as it stands now, there are going to be thirteen planned chapters and an epilogue, and I have actually done the responsible thing and made myself a storyline with ideas to stick to, so I shouldn't have to have a fight with writer's block due to my Muse going south for the year. Little asshole. I may have to add or remove chapters based on length, just to keep everything just about uniform, so we'll play it by ear. Having said that, I also have plans for AT LEAST four side stories to be published as one-shots alongside YH; not sure if I'll do them during or after. Most likely after.

Now it's all down to, when can I get time to get to the library to put these up? Just one problem after the other, I suppose; but that's life.

Also, from now on, I'll answer my reviews at the end of each chapter.

**xXXx**

**Your Heaven**

**Chapter Three – Call Me When You're Sober**

The Hunter Society was a small dive just a few buildings down the street from where Zero lived, and from what Kaito had told him, it wasn't a bad place either. About two weeks ago he'd gotten his holiday bonus and then suffered through working two back-to-back shifts on Christmas, wearing a brand new graphic tee, black skinnies and a pullover Monster hoodie—black with the giant green M logo on the front. He hadn't been a big Monster drinker until Yamakawa had asked Zero to trade the last three weeks' worth of shifts, so Zero had been abruptly shoved into a different sleep schedule without time to adjust. That was fine though. He didn't have to accept the trade… just that the graveyard shift was from eleven to eight—a nine hour shift, when he normally only worked a four hour shift, six to eleven. His next paycheque was exponentially higher than what he'd been getting before, and he was able to splurge on a bottle of cologne, rented a movie for once, and bought a block of tofu for his miso soup.

He wondered deftly what Yamakawa wanted to trade shifts for. There was nothing someone would need to do between eleven and eight in the dead of night unless they were involved in some shady activities. Knowing Yamakawa, that wasn't outside the realm of possibility. He was a big guy, a little on the dumb side, but no one who came in there with malicious intent was going to walk out of there in one piece if they crossed Yamakawa. Yet, he also had a kind streak and greeted Zero fondly whenever they met outside work, not even worried about what people might think of him—in fact, Yamakawa seemed to be increasingly persistent in learning all the details concerning Zero's incarceration. Not that Zero was readily keen on sharing…. It made the whole thing somewhat annoying, but who was going to stop Yamakawa from bothering him?

Generally Zero gave him enough to satisfy him and then made a break for it as soon as possible. Still, he was thankful, even if the switch hadn't been intentionally to give Zero a boost in his pay. Why should he complain? He had some money in the bank now, which meant that he felt comfortable heading out for drinks on New Year's Eve.

Zero stood outside the bar in a short line, remarking at how well the new place fit in among South Third Street. The little bar was exactly what one might expect, given the kind of neighbourhood that this end of Third was. The south end was a little on the greasy side; everything was bathed in shadow and buildings all looked at least a little rundown where they lined the street, which narrowed considerably from the uptown's six lanes of traffic, down to just two. There was an expanse of disintegrating brick, tons of graffiti, and every now and again there was a place all boarded up because of coding issues. In the middle of such a strip, and across the street from The Hunter Society, was a big concrete courtyard with six-foot chain link fencing all around it—set back farther off the street was an ominous-looking grey flagstone structure with bars over the windows, almost like a prison. This was The Orphanage On Third, as it was called by locals; the faded sign out front labelled it Cross' Children's Shelter.

If Zero remembered correctly, before he'd been chucked in the slammer, the Hunter Society had been a family restaurant. Yagari's Grill or something like that. The director at the orphanage had taken him and Ichiru there for their birthday once, and he remembered it having a very backwoods barbeque type feel. That's why it didn't surprise him when he stepped inside to see that the décor had changed very little except that there was a huge rack of bottles behind the bar, which had once been a buffet, and over to the left where there used to be a large seating area, there were now two pool tables, a small dance floor with a pole in the middle of it, and a row of booths which were already filled.

Zero huffed; there were only a few empty places to sit, two of them at the bar and the other a table meant for a party of four. He wasn't going to take the table when it was possible that a larger group may want to sit there later, so he considerately, and reluctantly, seated himself at the bar.

The music was too loud for his liking, but this was happy hour when everyone was out and apparently The Hunter Society was going to be the It Spot for Third until around midnight. The DJ was making sure that everyone stayed pumped, the bar kept them plastered, and it made for a very sexual atmosphere altogether. Most people here, Zero observed, were single, and he suddenly regretted coming out without a date. The spot next to him stayed empty for the most part while he sipped his beer, but people came and went, too shit-faced for him to believe they actually found him attractive enough to want to flirt. It was probably just because he was available and alcohol made everyone easy.

Again, he huffed.

At eleven, someone made a fairly good show of walking in a straight line up to that empty stool, seated himself, and called the bartender by name to demand another Grey Goose martini, extra dry, no olives. He didn't think anything of it—well, except for who drinks a martini in a place where everyone was drinking a variety of choice beers and taking shots of straight whiskey—until he looked over and saw the guy dressed in a crumpled white button-down, a black silk tie thrown over his shoulder, his hair all a mess. Other than the bags under his eyes and the swatch of stubble across his chin, he was strikingly handsome, with that dark chocolate hair and rust coloured eyes….

It hit him.

It was the guy from the Grab 'N' Go. The rich business guy that came in and bought bentos and energy drinks all the time! Holy shit, what a turn around. Zero had last seen him three weeks ago in what was comparably impeccable condition and instantly recanted whatever it was he'd thought about this guy at the time. He obviously had some unresolved hardships outside of just being too rich to know what to do with the swimming pool full of money that only overflowed as he rode the asses of the working class, and hard. This was borderline emotional trauma.

This was Zero between Ichiru's murder and being stuffed in jail. He could relate. He felt sorry.

The man looked up at him, squinted in a very non-confrontational sort of way, and frowned. Hard. "You're that kid from the convenience store," he belted over top of the music, making Zero jump up in surprise. Not only had he been caught staring, but this guy knew him, and the fact that he wasn't slurring his speech to go along with the dilation in his pupils was the cherry on top. Maybe this was some kind of medical mystery or something, but the way he'd thrown back three extra dry martinis in the last twelve minutes suggested that he should have puked all over his shoes ages ago. It was obvious he'd been here a while…. Who went to a bar when they had such an impossibly high tolerance?

In response, Zero nodded. "Bento and Monster Guy," he returned just as loud, and the man's eyebrows knit together, creasing his brow.

"Kaname," he corrected swiftly, without missing a beat. "And you?"

"Zero."

There was a short pause, as much a silence between them as there could be with the music cranked up, and after it, the dark-haired man who had introduced himself as Kaname let out a short laugh, muttering something that sounded like, "Of all the places." But Zero couldn't really tell. He figured that Kaname was probably embarrassed being caught in a junk heap like The Hunter Society. For sure, Kaname was on the wrong side of the tracks, and this was the sort of place that his kind didn't belong—generally weren't welcome either. Zero wanted to know why he was here, what he was doing drinking in a place like this when he could be holed up in a cozy VIP lounge somewhere with a classy babe on each arm. It didn't make a whole lot of sense, but who was he to complain? As long as it wasn't threatening Zero's well-being, he had no say in the matter.

Time wore on and the two exchanged small talk, watched as the celebrations went down at midnight, and remained while everything quieted down afterward. Eventually there came a point where there wasn't any need to blare the music any longer; and by then, Kaname was leaning on the bar with his head in his hand, staring at Zero who monologue about his early childhood happily. The words just fell out and he couldn't stop himself; and it didn't appear that Kaname wanted him to stop. Somewhere in the back of his head he thought it wouldn't matter anyway because neither of them were going to remember anything the next morning.

Finally, the story made it up to three years ago, and Zero went quiet, unsure of whether or not he should continue. What if this man's inhuman alcohol tolerance meant that he _would_ remember? And then he might stop coming to the Grab 'N' Go altogether; that would be his fault. The boss would never forgive him. He'd probably get fired.

"Zero? What were you saying about your brother?"

He was so suave and persuasive…. "Ichiru got mixed up with the Yakuza. I tried to get him to give it up, but he was dead set 'cause apparently he found the bitch that ganked our parents." His speech was shockingly level despite his numb lips. "But I told him that it had trouble written all over it and he wouldn't listen. I caught him going toe-to-toe with some sonofabitch and tried to stop him; in the end, the guy massacred him, and they planted the remaining bits of evidence the court needed to convict me. So I spent the next four years in jail."

Kaname sat up straight, looking almost impressed though he swayed a little when he wasn't leaning over. "Just four years? How did you manage to pull that off?"

"Good behaviour."

Kaname went silent. He studied Zero under the dim lighting, the way the dull orange glow illuminated his silver hair and glinted off the piercings in his ear. Even despite the shadow, Kaname could make out the tattoo on his neck and confirmed that yes, Zero looked the type to have been to jail at least once. He also looked like he might work for the Yakuza as well, though there was no way he'd be working in a convenience store if that were the case. It was that hard look in those remarkable but stark and cold lavender eyes; he looked like he'd seen some rough things in his life, so Kaname had no problem taking him at his word. But he could see Zero growing restless as he sipped his beer and eyed Kaname suspiciously. He was much calmer when he talked. "So… what's jail like?"

"It's not actually that different from normal society," Zero responded, a little sombrely. He tipped his bottle back for the last mouthful before he continued. " You do your work during the day, you get some time to hang out with friends, if you misbehave you get punished, you have sex when you can, and at the end of the day you go back to your cell."

"Sex. So are you…?"

"Gay? No. You just can't go four years without sex; that's insane."

"Why? I'm going on six."

There was a short period where Zero couldn't find a way to respond. He wasn't sure if he could laugh or not, because while that was a pretty hilarious thing to hear, it was also tragic to the point of ranking up there with death in the immediate family. Eventually he calmed that part of him that was pretty sure Kaname was a stand-up comedian, and reasoned with the one that was dead-set on this being nigh on catastrophic. "Six years, dude? I don't believe that." He clapped Kaname reassuringly on the shoulder. "Tonight you're getting laid if I have to fuck you myself."

At this point, Kaname, who had been busying himself in his martini, began to cough and choke as the vodka burned down his throat, caught in the confusion. Finally he held his breath until he could swallow and dabbed his mouth with his sleeve, giving Zero a bewildered, dark-circle-eyed look. Purely, he was not sure how to react. Eventually he gathered the broken pieces of his composure, dusted the shame off them and began to glue them back together with Grey Goose. "I'm going to drink my martini and pretend you didn't say that."

"Yeah, and that's the other thing." In a moment of blind passion, Zero grabbed the martini out of Kaname's elegant hand and slid it down the bar away from them. It went about three feet before it wobbled, lost balance and toppled over, smashing on the floor at the bartender's feet. "Fuck your… fucking… girly martini. Have a Goddamned beer." With that he stood up and slammed his hands down, turning to the bartender who was a rough-looking guy with wild dark hair that brushed his shoulders and one piercing periwinkle blue eye. The other was hidden under a patch. He was wearing a red plaid flannel shirt and a pair of blue jeans, cowboy boots, and his hair was pulled back in a ponytail under an overly abused cowboy hat. Zero stared, narrow-eyed for a moment wondering when Brokeback Mountain cosplay became cool, but shook it off. At least he matched the décor. "Barkeep, get this guy a man's drink! He needs a beer, stat!"

"I'm sorry Touga. Don't worry about it." Kaname waved him off, but Touga just ignored him, cracking open a Bud and slamming it down in front of him.

"Like Hell; if I have to make you one more fucking martini, you'll be out on your ass."

As he strode away, Kaname pouted, lifting the bottle to his lips and grimacing when the liquid hit his tongue. "Jesus, tastes like crayons." He didn't complain much more though, just didn't let it touch his tongue. "Anyway, what are you going to do now that you're out? Fuck guys and work shitty hours at the Grab 'N' Go for the rest of your life."

Zero looked away then. This was the part of the story he wanted to avoid. "Actually, now that I know who she is, the woman that killed my parents…. I plan on making her pay. I want her to suffer and scream just like they did, see her fucking bleed out all over the place while her loved ones watch—" He would've continued, but….

"So… can I just…. Let me get this straight," Kaname blurted out after choking down another mouthful of beer. "You just got out of jail, what? half a year ago, and now you're already planning to kill this bitch… so you can go back to jail…? I'm not seeing the logic here."

"Yeah, well you wouldn't. Your family hasn't had a target on their back for whatever reason for the last eight years. She's the one who killed my parents, and it was her guys who killed my brother. I just think it's her turn." Zero's voice was low and cold as he sat back down on his barstool, tossing back the last few mouthfuls of his beer with ease.

There was a silence that followed, and in it, Kaname took another chance to examine Zero. He wasn't Kaname's usual crowd, obviously, but something in him—something broken and looking for refuge, reprieve from the pain, something _rebellious_—wanted to take him home, use him to comfort himself just one time, and then drop him like a hot iron. He wanted to feel like he was hurting Zero just as much as Yuuki had hurt him. He also examined Zero's statement, finding no trace of logic that he could understand and no ability to sympathize with him.

"You're insane."

"I know."

"Like, criminally insane."

"Rub it in."

"No, seriously. You might be institutionalized."

The silence continued to ring out and the two stared at each other for a long moment, Zero's lavender-coloured eyes hard, and Kaname's rust-coloured eyes glazed. It took them both a while to notice that the music had completely waned out now, and Touga pounded his fist down in between them. They both started violently, switching their gazes to where he glowered down at the two who had collectively emptied twenty-seven beers and a bottle of Grey Goose. "Alright you two, pay up and get out. It's closing time."

**xXXx**

**Son of A/N:** A side-story about Kahne-chan's life. As I write this, I am gravely ill, to the point where I'm basically couch-ridden and cut off from eating anything but soup. I have really bad vertigo too, so I can't really get up to do much. That mean no chores for me. Yay. Conversely, it also means I can't even go see Lila, let alone ride her, which is probably worse than being sentenced to death like I already have been. Like… salt in the wounds. Okay, I'm exaggerating. I have the flu really bad. Anyway, my kitty, Yuuki (oh yes I did; that's really her name.) stays by my side all the time, and every time I sneeze, she yells at me. In the middle of this chapter, she even hissed at me for blowing my nose. Hah, she's so precious~ That's my little personal anecdote for the day.

Now, reviews.

**_UltimateSoULReApeR5960: _**Your review made me laugh harder than any review I've gotten previously. This was seriously the best. I promise, you'll get your wish in the fourth installment. ;D Also, should you review again later, I'm giving you a nickname because that was the most God-awful thing to type while I'm buzzed. So thanks.

**_hotxhotguy:_** Trust me, as the author I know exactly how you feel. Yuuki is a friggin cow and I felt like carrying that over to my fic. As far as your bonus, I know that there are a lot of people out there who don't care for Mpreg, and I don't want to ruin the series for them with it; but I'm actually planning to write a fun little AU of the AU one-shot after this where that will happen, because Kahne-chan happens to like the Mpregs herself. ^ ^;

**_Everyone Else:_** Thanks for all your reviews. This one is for everyone who took the time to leave a review, no matter how generic, and for those who didn't leave their usernames. I would really appreciate it if you could all take the time to log in so I could check out your fics too! But thank you for reading this fic anyway! *bows*I'm really hoping this fic will continue to satisfy your Kaname/Zero cravings and that you're not too upset with how long you have to wait between chapters.


	4. Chapter4- The Sought-After Extraordinary

**A/N:** Today's anecdote about my life: I got a new kitten~ His name is Caz, after Castiel from Supernatural. He likes belly rubs, sleeping in baskets, jumping up into the fridge, salsa, dog food, and trying to pick my nose while I'm asleep. He's a silver tabby, which I usually hate, but we just had a connection and I had to have him. Unfortunately Yuuki's behaving like your typical four-year-old, jealous when Mom brings home the new baby and pays more attention to him than to her. Pfft.

**xXXx**

**Your Heaven**

**Chapter Four – The Sought-After Extraordinary**

Was it already this early? Three in the morning had crept up on them before they knew it, and together they emptied their pockets to pay the tab they'd run up, then stumbled out onto the street with Touga's arctic one-eyed glower on their backs. They both felt that they weren't welcome in the Hunter Society any longer, and once the door was shut firmly behind them, Zero started to laugh. Confused, Kaname tipped his head to one side and narrowed his eyes in concern; when Zero's hearty chortling refused to desist, slowly Kaname began to join in as Zero leaned on him and the two made off toward the place where Kaname had parked his car on the side of the road.

They leaned against it until they caught their breath, backs to the doors and side by side. Finally there was silence in the night and Zero was the first to look over. The moonlight spilled over Kaname's dark hair, highlighted the flecks of gold and brown in his eyes, illuminated his entire inhumanly handsome face. Before he knew what he was doing, he had leaned in and took Kaname's chin to claim his mouth, kissing it briefly before his tongue darted out to run the length of the other's bottom lip. The flavour was muddled with beer and the strong antiseptic sting of vodka, but there was something warm and minty there that Zero was certain was purely the dark-haired man. Very slowly, Kaname's lips began to move against his own and it wasn't long before Zero was pressed up against the black Hyundai, pinned there with one of Kaname's knees in between his legs, pressing against his unmentionables and making him a little uncomfortable.

This had escalated quickly.

Finally, they broke for air and Kaname backed off in a sort of shock with his eyebrows raised. He immediately fished his keys out of his pocket and began trying to shove his house key into the slot in the car door, growing agitated when it refused to enter. "Dammit, get in there."

"You're too drunk to drive. I'm not going to let you," Zero interjected, snatching the keys out of Kaname's weak grasp. When the taller male grabbed for them, Zero stuffed them into his back pocket and began to back away down the sidewalk. "If you want them, you'll have to come back to my place."

"We're going to walk there?"

It was plain to see that Kaname was unimpressed, but he followed Zero anyway. There was no point in fighting and he knew it. "I just live down the street," came the reply as Kaname fell into companionable step next to Zero; they both knew that driving was a bad idea anyway, especially when it was below zero outside, the roads were icy and snow was beginning to flurry down from the clouds above, coloured dark orange with the glow of the city radiating into the atmosphere. The big fluffy flakes settled in their hair and eyelashes—Zero wiped his away but Kaname didn't seem to mind as he puffed out clouds of breath. He closed his eyes, turned his face up toward the sky and let the flakes melt on his face, falling victim to his increased body temperature from the consumption of alcohol.

"So, uhm…." Zero started, looking away. The cold was beginning to clear his head and he was able to keep himself from wobbling over to lean on Kaname for support. As he began to regain his head, he watched the bare trees planted along the sidewalk, marveled quietly at the way the small LCD lights looked on them, lighting up the mostly dark South Third street. "I told you about me. So… what about you?"

"What _about_ me?"

Their footfall on the sidewalk filled the silence as Zero considered this quick retort. Maybe he had to be more specific. "Well, you always look real good when I see you; nice suit, showered, shaved, combed. And then all of a sudden you look like a fucking hobo. So, did the stock market crash or something?"

Kaname huffed out a laugh and shook his head. "I'm not a stock broker," he replied complacently, then licked his lip. "I'm actually the State Branch Manager at Ichijou & Sons Shipping Company International. I'm one of the three candidates, internationally, in the running to become CEO when Ichijou finally retires."

That little spark of jealously that Zero held for the richer man kicked up for a moment into a tiny flame, but he pushed it down to the pit of his stomach. "So, why are you south of Front anyway? This is kind of a rough place for pretty rich boys, you know."

"Actually, it's kind of funny. I hate this part of town. If there were a petition to tear it all down and build all brand new condos and offices in its place, I'd be the first to sign. This kind of thing is an eyesore, and it encourages feelings of depression, aggression, uselessness, and dependency on drugs, alcohol, and government money." Kaname rambled for a moment, coming to an abrupt stop, then recanting what he'd said quickly, hoping he hadn't offended Zero. "Now that I think about it, look at me. A State Branch Manager: depressed, angry, inadequate…. And I guess everyone is dependent on drugs, alcohol, and government money. That's a universal thing."

It was true, and he wasn't going to sugar-coat the way he felt now that he'd already started. Ever since Yuuki had left him, Kaname had felt increasingly inferior and had little motivation to even take care of the most menial tasks. He'd stared at himself in the mirror that morning and contemplated shaving, but in the end his arm wouldn't lift his razor to his face and he'd given up without a fight. He'd gone to work in the suit he'd worn the day before and slept in, fell asleep on his desk after guzzling the mickey of vodka in his drawer with nothing to chase it, and then left early claiming to have a stomach flu when he hurled up the contents of the bottle.

For some reason, the loss of the alcohol had made him feel even more empty than before—he laid on the leather sectional in his living room for hours and tried to imagine the way the house had sounded with the kids and Yuuki all occupying it, but he just couldn't. He hadn't been there enough to memorize it. This made it perfectly logical to head to the bar and try to drown himself and that stabbing pain in his chest in alcohol before he could die of liver failure. If it weren't for Zero being there, Kaname probably wouldn't have made it home that night. Thinking about as clearly as he could at that moment, he knew that he would have driven home at top speed, and somewhere along the line everything would go black without warning. He was heading on a one-way street to the inside of a body bag, and the next time any of his family saw him, he'd be dressed in a white sheet with a tag on his toe, living in an over-sized refrigerator.

"You know, you don't have to." Zero's quiet voice ripped him from the horror show playing in his mind. "If you don't want to tell me, then you—"

"My wife left me because I spent too much time at the office and not enough time dedicating myself to being a good husband and father. I just wanted to do everything I could to provide for them, and I thought that if I worked hard enough, I could become CEO, and then life would be so much easier for them…." His throat began to sting and he paused to swallow, hoping to sooth it. His voice was hoarse with all the drinking, took on a gravelly tone as he lowered it as much as he could, like he didn't want anyone else to hear. The streets were bare, save for the odd couple that made their way slowly down the sidewalk heading north, so Kaname's whispering didn't make much sense to Zero, but he said nothing and waited without looking at the businessman.

When Kaname didn't continue, Zero took in a deep breath through his nose, relishing the way the icy air shocked his nerves, the feeling of a thousand tiny knives assaulting his nasal passages and spreading over his cheeks, rounding the top of his head, then crawling its way down his spine while he supressed a shiver. The scent of frost invaded his senses and it was refreshing to him; much cleaner than the smoke and motor oil that was thick in the streets during the day. "You know what I think?" This captured Kaname's attention. Zero saw his head turn toward him vaguely out of the corner of his eye. This time he didn't wait to see if Kaname had something to say—he just ploughed on. If Kaname was going to be blatantly honest, then so was he. "I think you should get your head out of your ass and get over her. If she couldn't even see that you were doing your best for her, then she doesn't deserve you; and if she left because you were whole-heartedly striving to make life better for her, then she's a bitch and she probably never loved you anyway."

By now he had gained Kaname's full attention, though the other's brows were knit tightly and his lips were pursed into a very displeased frown. But Zero continued nonetheless. "You know what? She's a fucking cow and it's time for you to move on. You've already done step one of the three step recovery process, which is binge drinking… obviously." At this, Zero turned a corner down a narrow alley and took the chance to steal a glance at the dry and very humourless expression on Kaname's face. Was he going too far? Was he insulting him? Did Zero care? These were things Kaname needed to hear; Zero was happy to provide. Anyway, it wasn't like they were going to see each other again after this—all the better if Kaname decided to fuck off before they got inside. "We're going to go up to my apartment and get step two out of the way; you'll feel a lot better after that."

They went into the back door of a building that Kaname wasn't entirely sure he trusted not to crumble without warning. Was it even up to code? He wasn't sure. The alley was full of trash, bright and abstract graffiti littered the walls in tasteless gangster fashion, and the door he was walking through was falling off its hinges. Inside was an area with very faded floral wallpaper and sixty-year-old carpet that was worn down to the floorboards. The stairs creaked with every step, the veneer was rubbed raw of the bannister which was attached at the peak of the staircase, but it laid on the floor at the foot. Kaname could clearly see where it had been ripped off with someone leaning heavily on it, and not that long ago. It didn't get any better as they travelled to the last of four doors—there were two lights mounted on the walls, one was dead, the other was flickering eerily.

All this made for a pleasant surprise when he stepped inside Zero's apartment. To his right in the small entrance was a coat closet with a shoe rack inside, and a door a little ways off that led into a miniscule but clean bathroom. To his left was a set of hooks to hang keys and the entrance to an L-shaped kitchen that exited into the living room. Ahead of him was the living room which was furnished with a second-hand couch, a little oak coffee table with matching end tables, and two mismatched table lamps all facing the wall to the far left, away from the entrance. There was a small TV, a set of plastic organizing drawers, a magazine rack, and a bookshelf with a broken shelf. A hall near the exit to the kitchen led down to two small bedrooms. All in all, it was better than what he had anticipated—everything was clean and intact, and the room smelled of sweet but tart Hawaiian flowers.

But that didn't answer the question that had been brewing in his mind. He hoped he would understand upon entering the abode, but to no avail. "Zero, what's step two?"

Zero had kicked his shoes into the closet, stripped his coat off, throwing it over the back of the couch, and was in the middle of pulling off his Monster sweater when Kaname's tentative voice carried across the room to him and he paused, spitting his answer bluntly. "Rebound sex."

The answer had made him honestly uncomfortable as it was paired with Zero stripping off his sweater and t-shirt, his back to Kaname's shamefully wandering eyes. It wasn't that he had anything particular against homosexuality… it was more that he didn't see himself ever being in that position, especially with someone he'd met that night in a bar, who he'd gotten intoxicated with, listened to him bare his soul, then shared something still red raw of his that he just wanted to forget…. And then there was that kiss. Kaname couldn't deny the fact that his heart had begun to pound in his chest, or that he'd not only pressed back, but had held his body against Zero's, slipped his knee in between his legs…. He could only imagine what would have come next if they hadn't had to break for breath.

Even now he couldn't say that watching Zero undress was unpleasant. When he pulled the sweater over his head, it took the t-shirt up a part of the way with it, exposing the flat plain of Zero's cream-coloured back; his straight, lithe body wasn't unlike Yuuki's, though firmer, taller, paler. Kaname could imagine that Zero's hips would fit perfectly into the palms of his hands—unlike when he fairly engulfed Yuuki beneath him, Zero would fit him, mould to his contours like they were two adjacent pieces of a puzzle. As the t-shirt was cast aside, Zero made for the bathroom and Kaname got himself an eyeful of how beautiful the silver-haired man's body really was. Firm and toned while not heavily muscular. His jeans sat low on his hips and were a little on the baggy side, obscuring what Kaname could guess were equally perfect legs; he had the sudden urge to find out what was beneath them.

"Just throw your coat on the couch," Zero instructed from the bathroom, though he had to yell because the fan came on when the light did, and he'd buried himself in the closet searching for something. Kaname did as he was told, then went about wandering as Zero went silent. He examined the books on the shelf, pulled the TV remote out from between the cushions, and accidentally set off the automatic air freshener which both rattled him and doused him with a spritz of Hawaiian freshness. By then, Zero had stopped rustling around and had come out of the bathroom with two boxes. "Large or extra-large?"

Kaname was honestly dumbfounded for a moment, "What?"

"Condoms. What size do you take?" The boxes were held up for Kaname to see, and neither of them spoke for a moment. Somewhere in Kaname's head, he knew this meant that Zero wasn't going to fight for dominance over him, which had been one of his initial worries; and as stupid as it seemed, he was wondering if he should worry about comparison with Zero's size. He'd never had to think of these things before, but now that he was, he didn't know how to feel about it. Jealous? Embarrassed? Should it even matter? Zero sighed heavily and shook the boxes. "Basically, if you're not going to fit into one of these, one way or the other, you can forget using me for rebound sex. I mean, if it's small I get it, not everyone can be hung like a fucking horse, but it's just not going to do it for me."

That was it. Kaname knew how he should feel—insulted. "You have anything to drink here?"

A little taken aback by the sudden question, Zero narrowed his eyes. "There's milk and Coke in the fridge, or if you're looking for something harder, I think there's a half bottle of Spicebox on the counter."

Before Zero could finish, Kaname had swept into the kitchen, removed the top from the whiskey bottle, then headed for the hall, snatching one of the condom boxes on the way. "Let's just do this." He lifted the bottle to his lips and downed a few mouthfuls with ease. If it was going to happen this way, he wanted to be just a little more tipsy first.

He could guess that Zero belonged to the drab grey room with the open door. The floor was clean, there was a queen-sized bed against the far wall with the most pathetic excuse for a blanket Kaname had seen in his entire life, and a small dresser with a pile of clean laundry on top of it. The once-over confirmed that this was good enough, and Kaname set down the bottle and the box in favour of removing his tie, unbuttoning his shirt, and sitting himself down on the edge of the bed.

Zero watched from the doorway, waiting until Kaname was as comfortable as he could be before crossing the room in two long strides and pushing the brunette onto his back forcefully, crushing their lips together as he brought his knee up between Kaname's legs, dangerously close to the crown jewels. He didn't waste any time biting onto the brunette's bottom lip to demand entrance, and Kaname was there to meet him when he slipped his tongue inside. The scent of the whiskey intoxicated his senses while the flavour of cinnamon and vanilla coated the inside of his mouth; he had to pull away to swallow it down before things became too messy.

With this, Kaname leaned up enough to catch Zero off guard and flipped them so the silverette was underneath him, his hips pinned where Kaname ground into them mercilessly. The extra alcohol had done wonders as it warmed his body and extinguished his inhibitions completely. If there had been a shred of doubt before, it was gone now, and Kaname had no problem moving his lips down Zero's tattooed neck, stopping at his collarbone to bite down, suck on the wound, then pull back just enough to blow cool air over it and assess the damage. There was a bright red mark there already, and Kaname knew that Zero's fair skin would hold onto that hickey for weeks to come. It made him proud to have marked him like a possession; made him feel better in some twisted, perverted way, especially with the way Zero's particularly loud exhale kind of sounded like a moan.

It was too much; he pushed himself to his feet to finish removing his shirt, tossing it off to the side somewhere and starting on his belt when Zero's cold hands seized his and pulled them away. His lavender gaze travelled up to Kaname's which looked almost red in the low lamplight; Kaname made no move to stop him, so he continued to loosen the belt, unbuttoning his pants and slipping them down over Kaname's hips to his ankles where the older man kicked them off. Zero didn't hesitate to kneel in front of him, immediately sucking Kaname's semi-hard length into his mouth, being careful about his teeth, and having to relax his jaw to do so. His first assessment was on the width, which was exactly what he didn't care for—if nothing was going to be as good after this, if nothing could fill that void, he didn't want it. It was extremely difficult to find the size he preferred as it was. He'd already come this far though, and six years of neglect was making it sound like it was definitely worth it. Kaname's voice was leaking through, even when it was obvious that he was trying to hold it back.

He sucked harder, holding the base with one hand as he pulled his head back until his lips covered only the head. Getting a good grip on the shaft, Zero began to stroke gently with a gyrating motion made by twisting his hand back and forth rhythmically; this was rewarded with a long, low groan and Zero upped the ante, stroking faster and sucking harder. Kaname's hips jerked forward involuntarily, and Zero could taste the precum on his tongue. It was just about time, he figured, and removed his hand to push the now rock hard length into his mouth. This time he couldn't help scraping his teeth which prompted another louder expression of Kaname's pleasure and a buck that rather forcefully put his cock at the back of Zero's throat. Zero did his best not to gag, pulling back enough to swallow the building up mixture of precum and saliva that was bitter in his mouth and when he'd relaxed his muscles enough, he pushed forward to take in the whole length, effectively deep throating with his hands planted on Kaname's hips to keep him from thrusting forward again. He used his tongue to massage the sensitive underside while pulling back slowly until he'd taken it completely out of his mouth.

Zero looked up; Kaname was grinning. "Only four years and you're this good? You must've been everyone's bitch."

"Shut up." Zero didn't retaliate any further because there wouldn't be any use and he knew that. Instead, he pushed himself up to remove his jeans and tossed them on top of Kaname's clothes, pulled a bottle of lube out of his side table drawer, then sat on the bed. "Are you going to actually participate, or are you going to be my blow-up doll for the night?" His dry tone matched the unamused expression in his eyes which were narrowed and locked with Kaname's.

Kaname was highly—_highly_—insulted by this insinuation and held back a bratty huff in favour of keeping as much manly dignity as possible. "What do you want me to do?"

"It's easier if you get on your knees instead of leaning down over me on the bed. Trust me and just fuck pride because your neck and back will thank you for it." It took Kaname a moment to comply, his face clearly reading scepticism, but Zero took his right hand, squirting a generous amount of the clear gel onto his fingers. From here Kaname had a good idea of where to go. Before Zero could continue instructing him, he had already begun to spread the lube over his fingers, all four because he wasn't sure when it came to anal and he wanted to be safe. At the same time, he used his free hand to fondle Zero's cock the same way Yuuki used to do for him—he ran his thumb over the underside and up to the head, working his way back down with a gentle stroking motion. With his fingers properly coated and the gel warmed, he stroked Zero's entrance tentatively, pushing his middle finger in up to the first knuckle, pleasantly surprised with the way the tight heat sucked him in almost greedily.

He looked up along Zero's pale white body, catching him watching with a devilish little smirk. To Kaname it was like a challenge, and he sat up, slipping Zero's already mostly enlarged member into his mouth with ease and polished the organ firmly with his tongue, picking up a vigorous bobbing motion. While he situated himself there, got himself accustomed to the new sensation, his eyes were closed lightly in concentration; once he had sorted himself out, he opened his eyes again, locking them with Zero's which had darkened with lust, his pinkened lips slightly parted to allow out his heavy exhales. His cheeks had taken on a slight flush and as Kaname began to push his finger inside, timing his movements with the bobbing of his head, Zero finally couldn't take it any longer. Leaning back all the way, he used the hand whose elbow he'd previously had himself propped upon, biting down on his lip to keep his voice from escaping.

That certainly wasn't allowed. Kaname paused long enough to pull his hand back, tracing the puckered hole with a second finger which was accepted wantonly, just as the first had been. Zero's positive reactions only intensified and before long, Kaname was amazed to find that all four of his fingers were perfectly able to fit inside with the proper preparation. This was something that both disgusted him and made him unbearably hot at the same time. It was too much for him. The taste of Zero's precum had long welled up in his mouth, the sounds the silverette was desperately trying to hold back while failing miserably, and the way his body had flexed to accommodate only that much of him…. Kaname was having a hard time continuing like this.

He pulled back, slipped a condom on, and was hovering over Zero with one of his legs propped up on his shoulder with the other moved to hook onto his waist before the younger man could flutter his eyes open languidly. Kaname leaned down, taking Zero's bottom lip between his teeth; it earned him a growl that rattled his entire body, wracking it with an electric tremor that settled itself directly in his nethers and prompted him to move forward. His cock ploughed through, sinking itself all the way to the hilt before it stopped; Kaname sighed, Zero gasped. Something in both of them said that there was no forgetting and no going back after this. Zero knew that nothing was going to fill him quite as well, fit him so perfectly at his limit; Kaname would never be able to go back to another woman, finding himself more and more addicted with every thrust as he held Zero's hips and gradually worked up to pounding his flesh in an almost aggressive, animalistic fashion.

He pulled out of a very sloppy and wet kiss and moved to the younger male's neck, biting down where black ink tainted Zero's pure white skin, hard enough to draw blood. Almost remorsefully, Kaname sucked on the wound, but it didn't really sound like Zero was complaining. The hiss of pain that preceded a broken but ecstatic moan was prelude to Zero's cock exploding over both their chests; the way Zero's long, slender fingers gripped into his hair, his toes curled and his milky thighs tightened on the brunette's sweat-slick skin where they'd been rearranged for Zero's comfort, and then his muscles clamped down on Kaname's already nearly spent cock all at one time…. Kaname couldn't hold out. His vision was washed white, his muscles seized in that instant, and this horrible feeling of full-body paralysis hit; it wasn't until he'd come down off that high that he realised just how incredible it had been.

Yeah… Yuuki never would have let him do anything like this.

They didn't bother with pillow talk; there wasn't even enough energy between the two of them to properly get themselves into bed and cover up. When Kaname had disposed of the condom in the garbage pail next to Zero's bed, he effectively flopped down at his side, allowing Zero to turn and curl into him with half-lidded eyes and a satisfied smile. He was kind of cute like this, it was hard to believe how foul-mouthed and blunt he was the rest of the time. It was something he had to laugh off, nuzzling into Zero's hair as he drifted off, falling asleep as soon as he'd closed his eyes.

**xXXx**

**Review Replies:**

_Ben4kevin: _You're totally right; well it's like that in most anime, though—most of the men don't have any body hair whatsoever, and those who do are regarded as unattractive. Though…. Now that I think about it, even as vampires, the Night Class has to have the ability to grow facial hair—otherwise, how would Asato Ichijou be able to have a beard? Most people would just poof away that logic with, "They're perfect, therefore they don't have to shave." But if Ichio has a beard, then surely the Night Class must fall victim to the testosterone, too. In all fairness though, in this fic Kaname is a little devastated and he's been on a routine of binge drinking, working, and falling asleep at his desk drooling (thus far). He's a little worse for wear right now, otherwise he would definitely be a clean-shaven Kaname-sama.

_Blemm-chan:_ WAS THAT JUICY ENOUGH FOR YEH? I always have fun writing my lemons, so I hope you enjoyed it. ^ ^

_Hotxhotguy:_ I'm sensing a trend with the Kaname-stubble thing. O.o And I'm still planning on doing the side story because why not. Don't you worry though, Yuuki will get what's coming to her, muwahahaha.

_Reapercchi:_ I almost peed myself this time. The InuYasha thing was too much. Recently, my youngest sister has been really into InuYasha and she keeps yelling at him to get his act together and marry Koga. Did I mention she just turned seven last week? I've trained her well.

_Nero922:_ Aww, thank you so much. Hopefully you'll continue to love it as it progresses!


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